George Washington Carver

Born into slavery in Missouri near the end of the Civil War, baby George Carver was kidnapped by bushwhackers. Ransomed and freed by his owner he later traveled to Kansas at age 12. For the next 14 years he drifted the Kansas plains alone, but always curious, always inventive. A natural genius, he found his calling at Iowa State. Some thought he was the most promising horticulturist in the nation. He spurned prestige schools to teach at all black Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. There his creative mind developed better ways to grow and use peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and cotton. He significantly influenced agriculture in the deep south. His immense talents did not go unnoticed. His advice was sought by industrial genius Henry Ford and American presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt as well as Senators and Congressmen. Carver died in 1943 after a lifetime of scientific and artistic achievement. Soon thereafter, Franklin Roosevelt honored Carver by designating the George Washington Carver National Monument in Missouri. It was the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and the first to honor anyone other than a president.